The Houbàn
by QUEEN EMPATH
Summary: A/U When an unfamiliar creature started to haunt the dark hallways of Hogwarts, Sue Li must go back to her ancestral roots to stop the creature


**The Houban**

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowlings

A/N - Written for QLFC round 11

Prompt - KEEPER: A character discovers they are/is discovered to be a part creature (Restriction: not Fleur, Gabrielle, or Remus)

Word count -2121

* * *

Though it was a pleasant night, Marietta Edgecombe was twisting and turning in her sleep. She woke up from her strange nightmare with a start. Looking outside the window of Ravenclaw tower, she sighed in relief. It was just a dream, a weird dream about Cho. Marietta looked around and saw that Cho's bed was empty. Just when she was about to get up and go search for her friend, Cho entered the dorm silently. She hastily closed the buttons of her night robes and went to sleep. Marietta didn't know what to make of it.

Next day at breakfast, Sue Li saw Cho starting at an awfully pale Potter. Which was weird because he had looked fine when she saw him in the hallway the previous day. He wasn't eating anything while other Gryffindors were busy enjoying their breakfast. Just then, Harry attempted to get up but fainted. Immediately all his housemates were by his side.

"Harry, Harry! Wake up," Hermione said her voice filled with worry. Hermione was holding Harry's shoulder just then Cho came there and roughly removed her hands from Harry.

"Don't touch him," Cho said in a venomous tone. Hermione glared at the other witch.

"What is your problem, Chang?" she asked in the same tone. Ron just stared at both girls open-mouthed. Before Cho could fire back, McGonagall cut in.

"Miss Granger, Miss Chang what is meaning of all this? Mr Weasley, take Mr Potter to Madam Pomfrey. Rest of you, go to your classes," McGonagall said sternly. Ron nodded and obliged.

* * *

Harry groaned and opened his eyes as Madam Pomphrey fussed over him.

"Uh, Madam Pomfrey, what happened, why am I here?" Harry asked. Poppy just shook her head and spoke.

"You fainted because of exhaustion, Mr Potter. Did you overwork yourself?" Poppy asked sternly. Harry just shook his head.

"Did you have food yesterday?"

"Yes," Harry replied. Poppy pondered in confusion for a bit, then spoke.

"Get some rest, Mr Potter," she said.

* * *

It was late at night when Sue, Padma and Michael were heading to their dorms from the library. They knew it was late, but their Potions assignment was more important. While crossing a dark corridor, Michael stopped and sniffed the air.

"Did you girls smell that?" He asked.

"Smell what?" Padma asked. Michael huffed in irritation.

"That amazing fruity and flowery smell. Do you both have a cold?" He said.

"Michael, we can't smell anything; what are you talking about?" Sue asked. Michael didn't reply and started to walk in another direction as if he was in some kind of trance. Both girls ran after him.

After running for a while, they reached a darkened corridor. All they could see was a silhouette of Michael in the dark. As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they realised there was another boy there, but they couldn't see his face. They felt a gush of wind, then a floating shadowy figure approached both boys. It had flowing hair and glowing blue eyes.

It was like a ton of bricks had hit Sue. It all made sense now. The enticing smell they couldn't smell, Michael going into a trance, t- that _creature..._

"A Hou-Houbån!" Sue shrieked alerting the creature, who snarled at them.

"Sue, what's that thing?" Padma asked fearfully. Sue immediately grabbed Michael's shirt collar and yanked him like a rag doll. Without looking back, the girls ran, dragging Michael with them. Halfway through, Michael fell down, waking up from the trance.

"What the hell!" He shouted.

"Hurry, we have to get back to our dorms! I'll explain later," Sue said, urging her friends to follow her. The three Ravenclaws passed Ron in the hallway.

"Hey, have you seen Harry? We're going to our common room when he just disappeared," Ron said.

"Did he say something about smelling something flowery despite not being in the presence of any flower? And have _you_ smelled anything?" Sue inquired, while Michael looked confused and Padma was scared. Ron just cocked his head in confusion.

"I don't know about flowers, but Harry has been behaving strangely for quite some time." With that, Ron went to the other direction, not wanting to tell the Ravenclaws more details. Sue's eyes widened at Ron's words. That other boy they saw must have been Harry. Hastily, Sue started to pace.

"Sue, we should tell Headmaster Dumbledore about that creature," Padma suggested

"What creature?" asked Michael. Sue just shook her head.

"They won't understand, we need someone else's help," she said, heading to their common room.

* * *

The next day Hermione was doing her Transfiguration homework in Library when she saw Sue frantically searching for something in the dusty _Restricted Section._ Which was odd since Ravenclaws hardly ever showed interest in dark arts-related stuff. After searching for a while, Sue huffed in frustration.

"Useless, all useless, there's nothing in this library that will help," she said, leaving in haste. Hermione got up and approached the bookshelf. She picked up the book Sue was just holding.

"_Mysteries and Mystique of Asia," _ Hermione read, opening the book and inspecting it. To her, the book was _very_ informative. 'It has chapters on Dragons, shape-shifting snakes, different types of malevolent witches and other dark magical creatures found in Asia. So why did Li call it useless?' Hermione thought.

When Sue entered her room, she saw a package lying on her bed with a letter attached to it. Padma glanced at the letter, but since it was written in Chinese, she couldn't make out anything. Sue opened the package revealing many rare Asian herbs, blank parchments and a weird looking ink bottle. While Sue was inspecting the items, the usually mild-mannered Padma lost her patience.

"Ok, what the heck is happening here? What's all this, what was that creature we saw other night, and why did you say none of our professors can help us?" Padma asked. Sue sat on her bed and sighed.

"That creature we saw was a Houbån, an Asian vampire-like _female _creature. Unlike vampires, a Houbån feeds on chi or human life force, especially its mate's, slowly killing the poor fellow. I never thought I would ever see an actual houbån. I only heard about them from my grandfather," Sue explained while Padma was open-mouthed.

"B-but why didn't you tell this to any of our professors?" Padma asked fearing for their safety. Sue just sighed.

"Because only a Chi Wizard can deal with a houbån," Sue replied.

"And you're one?" Padma inquired.

"I'm from the family of Chi wizards. My grandfather is one; he'll come here soon, but we don't have that much time. I'll have to do it myself," Sue said with determination.

"But," Padma objected, but Sue just ignored her and started working.

* * *

That night, Ron and Hermione were heading to their common room.

"I'm telling you, those Ravenclaws are planning something sinister," Hermione said. Ron just shook his head.

"Are you sure it was Sue Li and not some Slytherin girl? Ravenclaws don't usually indulge in the dark arts," Ron said. Hermione just huffed.

"I know what I saw, Ronald. Besides, don't you remember Quirrell? He was a Ravenclaw too," Hermione said in a matter of fact tone. Ron just nodded.

Just then they saw Sue running off to a random direction, holding a pouch. Without a second thought, Ron and Hermione ran after her. They reached a darkened hallway where they saw Sue holding a pouch. From this, she pulled out a gourd which was glowing green she started to chant a spell.

"_Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao" _Sue chanted while the items from her pouch flew out.

"W-what is she doing, what language is that?" Ron asked while Hermione stood still. Immediately they felt a gush of wind and a shadowy figure emerged from the dark with pale greyish skin, glowing blue eyes and flowing hair. Though the creature was scary, there was something about it which looked familiar. The houbàn lunged at Sue who was chanting the spell. It knocked her down, snarling on her face. Ron and Hermione pulled out their wands and threw hexes at it. The houbàn hissed and floated towards Hermione and Ron kept throwing hexes. Sue got up and pulled out a parchment and tried to stick it at the houbàn's forehead, the houbàn clutched Sue's throat and started to choke her. Hermione looked around, realising how dark it was in that corridor, even though the other corridors nearby were well lit.

"Lumos!" Hermione cast the spell illuminating the whole corridor. The houbàn shielded her eyes and flew away while Sue fainted.

* * *

When Sue woke up in the hospital wing. She saw an older Asian man with long hair and beard staring at her with disappointment.

"Grandfather?" Sue croaked. The older man just sighed. Sue heard a groan from the bed beside her, she tilted her head and saw Harry there. Just then, Ron and Hermione arrived.

"Professor Li, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked in shock. "Who?" Harry asked, confused.

"This is Professor Lao-Shi Li, our temporary Ancient Ruins teacher," Hermione explained.

"He's also my grandfather," Sue said. Lao-Shi approached Harry and hover his hand above him, which started to glow. After a few seconds, he pulled his hand back.

"He isn't the Houbàn's mate, but he did indeed get attacked by her," Lao-Shi explained. Then he turned to his granddaughter and spoke strictly.

"I clearly told you to wait until I arrive. Why did you try to deal with that houbàn by yourself? You're lucky that it was a part Houbàn; otherwise, it would be easy for her to kill an _inexperienced_ Chi-witch. You were lucky to only be unconscious for two days," Lao-Shi scolded.

"I'm sorry, grandfather," Sue said in a small voice.

"Can someone explain what is happening here?" Harry asked.

"It's a long story," Lao-Shi said.

* * *

That night Lao-Shi met the Golden Trio and Sue outside the Room of Requirement. At first, he hadn't wanted Sue there, but she had begged him to let her help. Lao-Shi pulled out a chain with a dragon tooth on it and gave it to Harry.

"Wear it, it'll protect you from the houbàn's enchantment," he instructed. Harry did as told. After some time, Harry smelt something flowery.

"Did you guys smell that?" he asked.

"Follow that smell," Lao-Shi encouraged.

After following the smell for a while, Harry reached a dark place, and suddenly he started to feel cold. The dragon tooth in the chain began to glow fiercely. Harry clutched his wand tightly. Then a scary-looking creature floated to him. It looked at him fondly while Harry backed up a bit. The houbàn touched his face, but he pushed it away. The houbàn's glowing eyes widened.

"_Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao,"_ Sue and Lao Shi chanted the spell.

The houbàn clutched her head and cried. With almost inhuman speed Lao-Shi leapt and stick the magical parchment at her forehead, freezing her on the spot. Lao-Shi poured a green potion on her head, revealing her true form.

"C-Cho?" Harry said in disbelief while Hermione and Sue glared at her. Suddenly it made sense.

"Grandfather, her possible mate was Cedric Diggory, he died," Sue said. Cho's face fell at Cedric's mention. Lao-Shi pulled out a glowing gourd and show it to Cho who covered a bit but unable to move because of the parchment.

"I command you to leave this boy, Harry Potter, alone. He isn't your mate. Your mate Cedric Diggory is dead," Lao-Shi said. Tears started to flow from her eyes as the whole corridors echoed with sobs.

Cho turned to Harry and spoke. "Harry, I-i - but he cut her off.

"Leave it, Cho," he said curtly walking away with Ron and Hermione, while the Chi wizards stayed behind to take care of things.

Sue looked sadly at Cho. "I'm sorry," she said, as her grandfather began to chant the spell. Cho's eyes were glowing in anger, and she looked absolutely furious.

"Y-you!" she shrieked, pointing at Sue. However, even as she spoke, it seemed as though she was starting to disintegrate. "You ruined ev-erything," she continued, her voice breaking off in the middle, like static.

"I'm sorry," Sue said again, as she watched her former housemate break apart until all that was left was a gust of cold air that brushed past her and out through the window.

The End


End file.
